Editing Monreale

{{Expand Italian|date=March 2022|topic=geo}}
{{Infobox Italian comune
| name                = Monreale 
| official_name       = Comune di Monreale
| native_name         = 
| image_skyline       = MonrealeCathedral-pjt1.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| image_alt           = 
| image_caption       = Interior of Monreale Cathedral.
| image_shield        = Monreale-Stemma.svg
| shield_alt          = 
| image_map           = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt     = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|38|04|54|N|13|17|20|E|region:IT_type:city(31964)|display=inline}}
| region              = [[Sicily]]
| metropolitan_city   = [[Metropolitan City of Palermo|Palermo]] (PA)
| frazioni            =  Aquino, Borgo Fraccia, Borgo Schirò, Cicio di Monreale, Giacalone, Grisì, Monte Caputo, Pietra, Pioppo, Poggio San Francesco, San Martino delle Scale, Sirignano, Sparacia, Tagliavia, Villaciambra
| mayor_party         = 
| mayor               = Alberto Arcidiacono
| area_footnotes      = 
| area_total_km2      = 530.18
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total    = 39032
| population_as_of    = 31 October 2017
| pop_density_footnotes = 
| population_demonym  = Monrealesi
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m         = 310
| twin1               = 
| twin1_country       = 
| saint               = St. Castrensis
| day                 = 11 February 
| postal_code         = 90046
| area_code           = 091
| website             = http://www.monrealeduomo.it/
| footnotes           = 
}}

'''Monreale''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɒ|n|r|i|ˈ|æ|l|}}; {{IPA|it|monreˈaːle}}; [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]]: '''''Murriali'''''<ref>"Monreale" is a contraction of ''monte-reale'', "royal mountain", so-called from a palace built here by [[Roger I of Sicily]]</ref>) is a town and ''[[comune]]'' in the [[Metropolitan City of Palermo]], in [[Sicily]], [[Southern Italy]]. It is located on the slope of Monte Caputo, overlooking the very fertile valley called ''"La Conca d'oro"'' (the Golden Shell), a production area of orange, olive and almond trees, the produce of which is exported in large quantities.<ref name=EB1911/> The town, which has a population of approximately 39,000, is about {{convert|7|km|0|abbr=off}} inland (south) of [[Palermo]], the regional capital.

Monreale forms [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monreale|its own archdiocese]] and is home to [[Monreale Cathedral]], a historical Norman-Byzantine cathedral, one of several buildings named in a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]], a group of nine inscribed as [[Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale]].

==History==
{{See also|History of Palermo|History of Sicily}}
After the occupation of Palermo by the Arabs (the [[Emirate of Sicily]]), the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palermo|Bishop of Palermo]] was forced to move his seat outside the capital. The role of a cathedral was assigned to a modest little church, ''Aghia Kiriaki'', in a nearby village later known as Monreale. After [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|the Norman conquest in 1072]], Christians took back [[Palermo Cathedral|the former Palermo cathedral]]. Probably the village's role as a temporary ecclesiastical centre played a part in [[William II of Sicily|King William II's]] decision to build a cathedral here.<ref>Rodo Santoro: ''Palermo Cathedral,'' Palermo: 1999, p. 7</ref>

Monreale was a small village for a long time. When the [[Italo-Normans|Norman]] [[Kings of Sicily]] chose the area as their hunting resort, more people and commerce came to the area after the royalty built a palace (probably identifiable with the modern town hall).

Under King William II, a large monastery of [[Benedictine]]s coming from [[Cava de' Tirreni]], with its church, was founded and provided with large assets. The new construction also had an important defensive function. Monreale was the seat of the [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]] [[archbishop]] of Sicily,<ref name=EB1911/> which from then on exerted a significant influence over Sicily.

In the 19th century, underage marriages, or those performed without the blessing of the bride's parents, were known as "the marriages of Monreale", according to [[Eliza Lynn Linton]]. These referred to marriages performed in remote places, where the law was less observed.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Linton|first1=Eliza Lynn|title=Some Sicilian Customs|date=1885|publisher='The Eclectic Magazine'|edition=41|url=https://archive.org/stream/eclecticmagazin06conggoog#page/n86/mode/2up|quote=The church did not sanction marriage younger than these several ages [20 for men, 18 for women], save in exceptional cases; and anyone who assisted at the marriage of a girl below the age of 18, without the consent of her parents or guardians, was imprisoned for life and forfeited all he had. This law, however, was frequently broken in remote places, and especially about Palermo, where "the marriages of Monreale" have passed into a proverb. When a young girl, say of sixteen, marries and has a good childbirth, they say "She has been to Monreale".}}</ref> (see [[Gretna Green]]).

==Main sights== 
{{travel guide|section|date=March 2022}}
[[File:Monreale_(3759364848).jpg|240px|thumb|Benedictine Monastery.]] 
[[File:Dedication mosaic - Cathedral of Monreale - Italy 2015 (crop).JPG|240px|thumb|[[William II of Sicily|William II]] offering the [[Monreale Cathedral]] to the [[Virgin Mary]], in the cathedral.]]
[[File:Monreale Cloitre1.jpg|240px|thumb|The cloister of the abbey of Monreale.]]

===The Cathedral===
{{main|Monreale Cathedral}}
The cathedral of Monreale is one of the greatest extant examples of [[Norman architecture]]. It was begun in [[1170s in architecture|1174]] by [[William II of Sicily|William II]] and completed four years later. In 1182 the church, dedicated to the [[Nativity of Mary|Nativity of the Virgin Mary]], was, by a bull of Pope [[Lucius III]], elevated to the rank of a [[Metropolitan bishop|metropolitan cathedral]].<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Monreale|volume=18|page=736|inline=1}}</ref>

The church is a national monument of Italy and one of the most important attractions of Sicily. Its size is 102 metres long and 47 meters wide. The façade is characterized by two large towers (one partially destroyed by lightning in 1807) and a portal with [[Romanesque sculpture|Romanesque]] bronze doors decorated by [[Bonanno Pisano]]. The interior is on the [[Latin cross]] plan, divided by ogival arcades, and features fresco cycles executed during the reigns of William II and [[Tancred of Sicily]] (c. 1194). The [[cloister]] has 228 small columns, each with different decorations influenced by Provençal, Burgundian, Arab and Salerno medieval art.

===Other sights===
*''Castellaccio'' ("Bad Castle"), an example of a fortified convent on the Monte Caputo, at 764&nbsp;m above sea level. It was built in the 12th century by King William II together with the Cathedral and the annexed monastery. It measures c. 80 x 30 m on an irregular plan with four towers on the western side, a middle tower and an entrance tower on the eastern side.
*[[Abbey church of San Martino delle Scale]], founded in the 6th century AD. It is on the  [[Latin cross]] plan with a dome, a choir with paintings by [[Paolo De Matteis]] (1727), two small side [[apse]]s, chapels in the [[transept]] and ten chapels in each of the [[aisle]]s. The interior was decorated in 1602 with stuccoes. The baptismal font near the [[sacristy]] is from 1396.
*Church of Collegiata (16th-19th centuries)
*Church of Santa Ciriaca
*Church of San Silvestro

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Italy}}
 
Monreale is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Bielsko-Biała]], [[Poland]]<ref name="Bielsko">{{cite web|url=http://www.um.bielsko.pl/|title=''Bielsko-Biała - Partner Cities''|publisher=2008 Urzędu Miejskiego w Bielsku-Białej.|access-date=2008-12-10}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Rocky Segretta]] (1899–1953), American football player 

==See also==
*[[Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons and category|Monreale}}
*[http://www.seepalermo.com/monreale.htm Monreale] tourist guide
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070818223122/http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Sicily%20%26%20S%20Italy/Montages/Sicily/Palermo/Monreale%20Cathedral.htm Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace – Monreale Cathedral and Cloisters]

{{Province of Palermo}}
{{Cathedrals in Sicily}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Italy}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Monreale| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Palermo]]
[[Category:Norman architecture in Italy]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Italy]]
[[Category:Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale]]